How to get into big tech companies (FAANG+) in 7 steps

By Tom Parry on September 11, 2024 How we wrote this article

Landing a job at one of the big tech companies like Google, Meta, etc. can be a game-changer; a great salary, huge growth opportunities, and the chance to work with some very bright people.

Even if you realize you don’t like it (not everybody does), the prestige of having even just one year at a FAANG company will open doors for you moving forward.

Below, we’ve laid out the main steps you’ll need to take to get into big tech. Whether you’re a recent graduate or an experienced professional, we’ve helped hundreds of people like you get job offers at top tech companies.

Here are the main steps:

1. Understand the requirements
2. Choose the right company
3. Choose the right role
4. Optimize your resume for big tech
5. Create a connection
6. Apply
7. Prepare for the interviews

Ready? Let’s go

Click here to talk to an ex-FAANG career coach

Step 1: Understand the requirements↑

The bad news: big tech companies can afford to be extremely picky about who they even interview, let alone employ.

The good news: there are always a lot of job openings available and what they’re looking for varies a lot across roles and teams, so you don’t have to fit a certain profile to get in.

Let’s take a look at some of the basic requirements.

1.1 Academic qualifications

College degrees are still required for most FAANG roles. Companies like Google are hiring an increasing proportion of people who haven’t gone through higher education, but it’s still the minority.

If you don’t have a degree, you’ll need to have equivalent practical experience. If that’s professional experience, great, but it could be gained in other ways - personal projects, unpaid work, etc.

Keep in mind that the more years of professional experience you have, the less important your degree (or lack of one) becomes. Same goes for your test scores and GPA.

This leads us to the next point…

1.2 Experience

Job openings at big tech companies usually require at least 3 years of role experience, if not 5.

If you’re very early in your career, you’re probably better off applying for an internship or targeting a start-up to gain more experience first. You’ll be more likely to get interview call-backs from big tech companies when you’ve got a few years of experience and impact to show on your CV.

However, you CAN go straight into a permanent role in big tech with zero professional experience. We’ve seen it done many times - such as Ana who got an SWE job at Google straight from university with this resume.

You’ll need strong academic achievements and highly impressive personal projects. Having done a relevant internship somewhere else also helps.

1.3 Technical skills

No, you DON’T need technical skills to work in big tech.

Sure, if you want to work as a developer, you’ll need to write solid code (although FAANG companies don’t tend to care much about which programming language you know) and have a strong understanding of computer science fundamentals (operating systems, networking, databases, etc.)

And if you’re a product manager, you’ll need to have enough technical understanding to be able to collaborate with the engineering team.

But there are plenty of roles that don’t require technical expertise, such as account manager/executive, sales, or strategy & operations.

We’ve worked with many candidates from non-related industries, such as consulting, who transitioned into FAANG without any technical skills necessary.

The level of technical expertise required also depends on which company you want to get into. For example, Google expects its product managers to have strong technical skills (ideally with technical degrees) but Meta and Amazon often don’t and are more focused on soft skills.

1.4 MBAs as a route in to big tech

Doing an MBA at a top business school can be an effective route into a big tech company. Every year, big tech companies will hire 200-300 people from prestigious MBA programs.

Some business schools have strong relationships with Silicon Valley and big tech recruiters, so an MBA at the right school can not only improve your resume but enable you to build your personal network.

However, given the cost of these MBAs, you may be better off spending a couple of years working and gaining real-world experience.

Right, let’s look deeper into some of the differences between the top tech companies.

Step 2: Choose the right company↑

Okay, so you want to work at a tech giant. But which one? Each has its peculiarities

Google:

Still the most prestigious of the lot. It has a strong engineering culture, and strong technical expertise is usually required.

Meta:

Overall, the highest-paying at the time of writing. Meta has a “bottom-up” culture meant to give managers a great deal of autonomy, and our Meta insiders tell us that the ‘Move fast and break things’ culture is real.

"At Meta things moved faster than at any company I have ever worked at." Mark R, former PM at both Meta and Google.

Apple:

Being in-part a hardware company, Apple has to take the necessary time to deliver perfect products. It can’t focus on deliver MVPs (minimum viable products) like Meta can. So if you have a track record of chasing perfection rather than “breaking things”, Apple might be a good fit.

The bad news: Apple doesn’t hire engineers and product managers at the same volume as Meta and Google, so there are generally fewer job openings.

Amazon:

The largest company in terms of employees, Amazon is slightly less prestigious than Meta and Google and is considered to be a bit easier to get into.

On the Amazon careers page you can find some openings for software engineer, data engineer and ML engineer roles that don’t specify years of experience, or require just 1+ years.

"I'm looking forward to seeing how new products are scaled for the masses." Jimmy got an SDE job at Amazon

We should mention that Amazon has a reputation of having a somewhat cut-throat culture and tends to do worse than other FAANG companies in employee happiness rankings, although this will depend on your region and your team.

That said, we’ve worked with plenty of people who loved their time at Amazon. It can also be a great stepping stone - we’ve worked with lots of Amazonians who have gone from there to Google or Meta.

Microsoft:

Less prestigious than Google and Meta and more employees, so can be easier to get into. Can be a great stepping stone to Google or Meta, or a great place to stay and grow.

Nvidia:

The newcomer, Nvidia is much smaller than the rest of the big tech companies but is growing rapidly. Nvidia has nine key teams at work: artificial intelligence (AI), auto, data center, gaming, graphics, hardware, research, robotics, and worldwide field operations (WWFO). We have less data on how hard it is to get into and what it’s like working there, but it’s likely to be as competitive as Google and Meta.

You should also consider applying to other prestigious tech companies such as Uber, DoorDash, TikTok, etc, outside the "big 5", or "FAANG+", or however you choose to define the very top tech companies. At some of these companies the salaries and opportunities available will be equal to anything you'll find at Google and Meta, but the bar of entry may be very slightly lower.

Another option is building up experience at what we call a "Tier 2" company like Salesforce, Walmart, and Oracle first. These places are a bit easier to get into but are still highly respected and provide plenty of opportunities to make the sort of impact that will help you stand out when you then apply to big tech.

Step 3: Choose the right role↑

It isn’t always obvious which sort of roles you should apply for.

One of the most common question people ask our coaches is “What are my chances on getting through hiring filters for this role with my current resume and experience?” And “Is this a suitable goal for me or should I aim higher/lower?”

For instance, you might be a senior software engineer at a small or medium-sized company; should you apply for senior roles at FAANG, or aim lower?

If you’ve got management experience, should you aim for manager track positions or are they more difficult to get?

Meanwhile, if you’re coming from outside tech, picking the right role is even more challenging.

You’ll need to build up an accurate understanding of which roles interest you most, where you can bring the most value, and where your knowledge and experience gaps lie.

To some extent, you can do this via careful reading of relevant job descriptions, but talking to a FAANG career coach is the most effective way to gain clarity.

"I was in consulting at Deloitte, but wanted to move into tech. I interviewed unsuccessfully with Google, but with coaching, I landed an offer at Meta. Now I'm working with a program management team at Meta and creating privacy principles within the PM team. Meta is looking into the future of Metaverse, and that's exciting too." Preeti, privacy progam manager L4 at Meta.

Step 4: Optimize your resume↑

Acceptance rates for the most popular big tech jobs tend to be under 1%. As you can imagine, most candidates don’t get past the resume screening.

You’ll need to invest at least a few hours in making sure your resume is as good as it can possibly be. Here’s how:

Tips on crafting a resume:

Study the job description. The work experience that you showcase on your resume should relate directly to the role qualifications that you’re applying to.
Be specific. Use data to back up your claims. How many people were on the team that you managed? How were your successes measured? Give numbers, percentages, whatever you can to quantify your impact.
Emphasize leadership. Big tech companies value emergent leadership. As much as you can, highlight instances where you took the lead and managed others. Remember, leadership isn’t about titles - you can demonstrate leadership without having had a leadership position.
Facilitation skills. If you're applying for a management role, you need to show you'll be able to help your team progress, removing obstacles and solving blockages. Try to include an example that shows how you unblocked a project, took preemptive action to avoid a bottleneck, or improved a process.
System design skills are often needed for engineering roles at FAANG. You'll need to be able to discuss engineering architecture and make decisions relating to efficiency, scalability, and performance. If you have any experience in designing systems, or related experience, make sure it’s prominent on your resume.
Engineering skills. This is obvious if you're an engineer, but sometimes applies to non-technical roles. For instance, Google and Nvidia expect their product managers to have solid engineering chops.
Be concise. Recruiters often don’t have the time to study a resume in-depth, so make sure to keep your resume clear and concise. Cherry-pick your highlights rather than giving a comprehensive summary of everything you’ve done.

The tips above include abbreviated information from our big tech resume guides. For more detailed steps, templates, tips, and real examples from successful FAANG candidates, take a look at one of our resume guides below:

The guides above are great starting points for you to make a competitive resume for free. However, if you want personalized feedback and tips from those who know big tech’s hiring processes firsthand, you can get input from our FAANG resume service.

Step 5. Create a connection↑

If you have a connection to someone in big tech, use it! Ask them to refer you for a role you’re applying for.

This may increase your chances of getting into the interview process. At the least, it makes it likely that your application will get a fair viewing, avoiding the possibility that it’s lost amidst the vast amount of general online applications.

If you end up landing the job, your contact will get paid a bonus for referring you, so it’s a win-win.

If you don’t have a contact in big tech, consider investing some time in improving your network. Here are four actions you could take.

5.1 Build a Networking Funnel

In essence, networking is a sales process, and getting organized in advance will set you up for success.

Begin by creating a spreadsheet of potential contacts. Okay, so maybe you don’t know anyone in big tech. But do you know someone who knows someone?

Make a list of family, friends, or ex-colleagues who could connect you with someone inside one of your target companies. Your last priority should be cold contacts.

5.2 Feed the funnel: go to big tech events

Once you have your spreadsheet set up (i.e. your funnel), then you need to create as many new connections as possible to feed your funnel. You should specifically target events organized by big tech companies or those with their employees as speakers. Go to an event and talk to them!

If you can’t get to events, try online events/webinars.

To get you started, check the links below.

5.3 Send good emails and keep following up

Whether you are following up from an in-person conversation, or you are cold-contacting someone, it's important to send good emails and follow-ups. Aim to build rapport, and to make it easy for the person to say yes to you.

It's also important for you to follow-up until you get a clear answer, many people will be open to a short phone call or coffee meet-up.

We like this advice on how to write effective cold emails.

5.4 Be ready to sell yourself

This is a critical step. You want to make sure that you are prepared for impromptu “interviews” as you begin to have conversations with your contacts. They’re not going to grill you as if you were in a tech interview, but it’s worth practicing talking about your motivation for joining the company and what you think you could bring. You need to be ready to sell yourself (without coming over as overbearing) and that takes practice.

5.5 Don’t just ask for a referral straight away

If you manage to get in touch with someone in big tech, don’t just straight up ask them to refer you before you’ve even met them. If they don’t know anything about you, it’s unlikely that they’d feel comfortable referring you even if your resume is outstanding.

Instead, explain that you’d like to pick their brains about the company they work at. Once you’ve established some connection with them and they understand a bit more about what you can bring to the role, they might be happy to refer you.

6. Apply↑

Right, so you’ve got a stand-out resume and you’re confident you’re targeting the right role at the right companies. It’s time for action!

Hopefully, you’ve managed to get a referral, but if not, apply through the company’s main jobs and careers page.

If you’re a recent graduate or still a student, most top tech companies have a ‘jobs for grads’ page that you can apply through.

Many of the openings you’ll find available above will be for internships. These can be a great route into FAANG and if you do well you’ll have a great chance of making the role permanent.

If you want to break into product management, check our analysis of the 4 Paths to transition into product management.

7. Prepare for the interviews↑

Once you’ve applied, hopefully you’ll get put through to the interview stage.

The interview process in FAANG companies can take from 4 weeks up to 5 months, so be prepared to be patient.

There are 7 stages in the big tech interview process: resume screen, recruiter call, initial screen(s), interview loop, interviewer debrief, hiring committee, and salary negotiation.

The steps that will require the most preparation are the phone screens and full interview loops which are usually onsite at the company’s local offices.

If you’re a software engineer, you’ll need to prepare for coding (yes, you’ll be solving Leetcode problems in your sleep), behavioral, and possibly system design. Plan for months, not weeks, of prep.

Whether you're targeting an engineering role or something completely different, we recommend you use our free big tech interview guides as a starting point.

"I studied 1-4 hours daily across 4 months. There's no such things as too much prep!" Zack landed a Site Reliability Engineer role at Apple.

Given how competitive getting into big tech is, you should also try to practice mock interviews with expert ex-interviewers. They’ll be able to give you accurate, actionable feedback that will take your interview performance up a level and increase your chances of landing an offer.

And don’t be disheartened if you get rejected from FAANG on your first attempt. Most people do! One of the keys to getting into big tech is to get feedback from an expert and then keep trying- we’ve worked with hundreds of candidates who landed an offer after multiple attempts.

Take the first step towards your big tech job↑

Navigating your path toward that job at a big tech company becomes a lot easier when you’ve picked the brains of someone on the inside.

Browse the 100+ FAANG coaches on our platform - you’ll find many who have worked at your target company in your target role. Book a coaching session and start building an actionable plan of attack to achieve your goals.